It is with great sadness that we have to record the death on 15 September of Jonathan Peck, chairman and owner of the Killgerm Group.
The announcement, repeated in full below, was made by Killgerm today.
It is with great sadness that we are writing to inform you that Jonathan Peck, chairman and majority shareholder of Killgerm Group, died yesterday following his long battle with cancer.
Since the late 1960’s when he joined the company, and soon after he led the management buy-out, Jonathan has been the driving force behind the Killgerm Group of companies. Over the past five decades he has led the steady and focused expansion of the Group, such that today its operations span 10 countries on three continents, and is a recognised leader in the pest control industry.
Known and respected around the globe, Jonathan’s passion for, and commitment to, the pest control industry has been clear for all to see and admire. For the many people who have had the pleasure of working with Jonathan over the years, they will remember him as being a larger than life character, dynamic and action orientated and always striving to further the best interests of the industry he loved.
It has been a remarkable measure of Jonathan, that over the past years he has had no time for pity or sorrow for his personal situation. Indeed it will surprise few people that if anything it gave him a free reign to enjoy his ”gallows humour”, which he did to the full.
Killgerm Group and the pest control industry have lost a key supporter, leader and friend. While we will mourn him, Jonathan himself said not long before he died that he hoped people would rather celebrate his life and have a damn good party. Many of us will have heard his often repeated story about “Peck weddings and funerals being quite fun events.”
As a testament to Jonathan’s practical side, and his knack for forward planning, over the past few years he worked extensively with the executive team at Killgerm Group to put in place a series of succession planning measures.
As many in the industry will know, majority ownership of Killgerm Group will now pass to an employee trust set up by Jonathan. The trust will ensure that the future of the Killgerm Group companies, and the employees he so much admired for their hard work and loyalty, is secure.
Jonathan Irwin Peck – chairman and owner, Killgerm Group Limited
Born: 13 November 1946 Died: 15 September 2013
